Cooling apparatus



COOLING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 20, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR.

. Aug. 30, w s A COOLING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 20, 1946 ms A Tim/v5) Patented Aug. 30, 1949 COOLING APPARATUS Warren S. Hall, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Carnegie- Illinois Steel Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey Application September 20, 1946, Serial No. 698,262

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a cooling apparatus for articles which have been heat treated, and particularly the ends of railroad rails, although not limited thereto.

In the operation of railroads, particularly along main lines which accommodate heavy locomotives moving at high rates of speed, the rails of the railroad tracks are subjected to very heavy impact. This impact is particularly heavy at the joints between adjacent rail ends, where, due to the appreciable deflection of the tracks, the impact or hammering action is greater.

It has been proposed to harden the steel of the rail ends by heating the same above the upper critical temperature thereof, and then rapidly cooling to a temperature which is below the lower critical temperature; all in accordance with well known metallurgical practice. The heating of the ends of the rails is easily accomplished, but satisfactory cooling is very difficult to achieve.

Heretofore, various means for cooling rail ends have been tried but they have not, so far as I am aware, proved entirely satisfactory. This is of course due to the fact that they do not provide the necessary uniformly controlled cooling.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide an efiicient cooling apparatus, which may be used for cooling the ends of heat-treated railroad rails and the like.

Another object is the provision of a device of the class described which is readily portable, cheap and easy to manufacture, operate and maintain; and one which is at the same time very dur able in service.

The invention, then, comprises the features hereinafter described and as particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawings setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these being indicative of several of the number of ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed. r

In said drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevational view, partly in section, illustrating the cooling apparatus of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line II-II of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic perspective illustrating the mechanical movement relied upon to effect the operation of the elements of the apparatus.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the apparatus of the present invention provides a substantially fiat hollow member 2 which is adapted to lie upon the head of a railroad rail and extend for a short distance toward the middle thereof. As shown more clearly in Figure 2, the hollow member 2 is substantially rectangular in cross-section and provided with suitable coolant channels, as shown at 3. The bottom of the substantially flat hollow member 2 is recessed, as at 5, to conform to the top and adjoining edges of the head of the rail to be heat-treated.

Referring to Figure 1 the inner end of the hollow member 2 is closed, as shown at 6, while the outer end thereof is provided with an integrally-formed downwardly depending hollow member 1 which extends for the full depth of the end of the rail and is widened out towards its bottom, as shown in Figure 2. The hollow member I communicates with a rearward extension III which takes the form of a hollow handle. Suitable passageways and restrictions are provided for obtaining an efficient flow of coolant through the hollow member I and the coolant channels 3 of the hollow member 2, but as such form no part of the present invention.

From the foregoing construction and arrangemerit it will be perceived that the elements defining the hollow member 2 and the hollow member i may be so shaped as to provide comparatively close contact with the top surface (and ad joining portions of the side edges) of the rail head as well as the entire surface of the extremity of the rail. By making these members of copper or other material having high heat conductivity and cooling the same with water, or other suitable coolant, heat may be conducted away from these contacted areas in a highly efiicient and uniform manner, thereby securing the desired metallurgical effect. But this does not include the major portion of the sides of the rail head as well as the web of the rail. However, the present invention also seeks to provide means for cooling these portions as well, and for this purpose there is provided a pair of relatively movable hollow side castings, generally indicated at it, which are adapted to be supported by, and to depend from, the sides of the hollow member 2. More specifically, each of these hollow side castings !5 com-- prises a pair of spaced and generally conforming plates, the inner of which provides a cooling surface defined by a vertical member 58 which depends downwardly in parallelism with the side face of the hollow member 2, an inwardly extending horizontal member l9 which extends inwardly under the'overhanging edge of the aforesaid hollow member, a downwardly depending member 20 which extends the remainder of the depth of the side wall of the head of the rail, an inwardly sloping wall 2| which extends inwardly toward the web of the rail, and a downwardly depending member 22 which extends in parallelism for a substantial portion of the depth of the aforesaid web. Each of these castings I6 is provided with an inwardly extending continuous flange 23 which is adapted to lie upon and slide on the adjacent portion of the top of hollow member 2.

On the top of each of the hollow side castings Hi there are a pair of widely spaced vertically extending lugs 33 which connect with an integrally formed bar 32 which extends longitudinally of the hollow member 2 to overlie the rearward exten-- sion In on the hollow vertical member i. Each of the lugs 30 is embraced by a pair of cars 33 which are integrally formed on the top of the horizontal hollow member 2, and each of the aforesaid lugs 30 is provided with a horizontally extending slot 34. Each of the slots 34 carries a pin 35 which extends therethrough and projects from either side thereof to seat in the adjacent ear. From the foregoing construction and arrangement it will be perceived that the bars 32 which are superposed on, and formed integrally with, the hollow side castings it, may be moved inwardly and outwardly with respect to each other in a horizontal plane. Thus, the horizontal hollow member 2 may be so constructed that its bottom will fit rails of widely varying sizes, except that it will, of course, project laterally from each side of the head of a rail of smaller size. The inner surfaces of the hollow side castings IE, adjacent the side edges of the horizontal hollow member 2 in effect provide longitudinal slots which act as guides so that by lateral movement of the said hollow side castings l6 they will contact the sides of the head of a rail of any size, and theinner surface of the vertical hollow member I will contact the entire end surface of a rail of any size. So far as the hollow side castings l6 are concerned, those portions thereof which do not contact the web of the rail, 1. e. the walls 22, provide excellent means for absorbing the radiant heat therefrom. Water or other coolant may be applied to the hollow members in any convenient manner.

In applying the apparatus to the end of a rail of any size it has been necessary to move the hollow side castings 18 away from each other for a sufiicient time to permit of the insertion of the device around the end of the rail, at which time the said castings l6 are moved together as far as possible to permit of a contact of the outside faces of the inner walls 20 thereof with the side facesof the head of the rail.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various means may be utilized for moving the castings it toward and away from each other. However, I have illustrated in the drawings a lever system which has proved to be effective, and the same will be described immediately hereinafter.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, there is mounted on the upper portion of the rearward extension l9 forming the hollow handle a bell crank lever 40. Immediately below the bell crank lever 49 there is pivotally mounted a vertically extended hand-operated lever M which is connected on its free end to one lever of the bell crank lever 40, The inward motion of the pivotally mounted lever 4! is resisted by a spring 42.

To the upper lever of the bell crank lever 49 there is pivotally connected a link 44, to the upper end of which there is connected a pair of divergent toggle links 45. The outer ends of the 4 toggle links 45 are connected to the lower levers of a pair of vertically extending tongs 41.

Disposed atop the apparatus of the present invention and extending between the longitudinally extending parallel bars 32 is a pair of horizontal tongs 49, the outer ends of which are pivotally connected to the upper ends of they vertical tongs 41. Connected to the inner ends of the horizontal tongs 49 are a pair of links 5| which extend crosswise of the said tongs 49, and each of these links 5| is pivotally connected on its extending end to the oppositely disposed bar 32. A spring 53 extends between and is connected to the bars 32 for the purpose of resiliently maintaining the latter in their innermost positions.

When the rearward extension I!) forming the hollow handle is squeezed by the hand of the operator, the pivotally mounted lever 4i is moved inwardly against the action of the spring 42, thereby causing the depression of the link 44 of the toggle 45, thus drawing the lower ends of the vertical tongs 4'! together, which in turn closes the upper ends of the said tongs and, correspondingly, the most adjacent ends of the horizontal tongs 49. This action causes the closing of the inner ends of the horizontaltongs 49 to cause the inwardly extending links 5! to separate the bars 32 which are formed integrally with the hollow side castings 15. The cooling apparatus of the invention may then be placed. over the end of the workpiece, such as a railroad rail. Release of the pivotally mounted lever 41 produces a reversal of the foregoing action, whereby the workpiece is embraced by the elements in the manner shown in Figure 2.

While I have shown and described certain spe cific embodiments of the present invention, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that I do not wish to be limited exactly thereto, since various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for cooling the ends of heattreated rails comprising water-cooled jacket having a horizontal section adapted to lie against the top face of a rail and a vertical section adapted to lie against the end face of the rail, a pair of water-cooled jackets adapted to lie against the side faces of the rail head, a slotted connection on the top of said first-named jacket slidably mounting said second-named jackets on'said firstnamed jacket, a spring biasing said secondnamed jackets toward each other, a linkage'for spreading said second-named jackets, and a han die on said first-named jacket having a grip for operating said linkage.

p 2. An apparatus for cooling the ends of heattreated rails comprising a water-cooled jacket having a horizontal section adapted to'lie against the top face of a rail, a vertical section adapted to lie against the end face of the rail and a handle protruding from said vertical section, a pair of vertical water-cooled jackets adapted to lie against the side faces of the rail head, a slotted connection on the top of said first-named jacket slidably mounting said second-named jackets on said first-named jacket and constraining their movement to translational movement, a spring bias ing said second-named jackets toward each other, a linkage for spreading said second-named jack ets, and a grip on said handle for operating said linkage, actuation of said grip spreading said second-named jackets for receiving the rail head and release or said grip automatically engaging said second-named jackets with the rail head.

3. An apparatus for cooling the ends of heattreated rails comprising a water-cooled jacket having a horizontal section adapted to lie against the top face of a rail, an integral vertical section adapted to lie against the end face of the rail, and an integral handle protruding from said vertical section, a pair of vertical water-cooled jackets adapted to lie against the side faces of the rail head and having inwardly facing grooves receiving said first-named jacket, a slotted connec tion on the top of said first-named jacket slidably mounting said second-named jackets on said first-named jacket, said grooves and said slotted connection constraining movement of said secondnamed jackets to translational movement, a, spring biasing said second-named jackets toward each other, a linkage for spreading said secondnamed jackets, and a grip on said handle for operating said linkage, actuation of said handle REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

V UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,251,042 Jorve Dec. 25, 1917 1,418,985 Stock June 6, 1922 2,129,670 Brunner Sept. 18, 1938 2,222,362 Cerf Nov. 19, 1940 2,309,518 Luers Jan. 26, 1943 2,396,940 Carson Mar. 19, 1946 

